Back in the US of A. Will try to blog about travels after I move to SF in a week.
Content will include
-Why Spain is amazing and life really is a lot different there
-What the hell I did in Spain for so long
-Amsterdam, coffeshops and prostitutes
-Copenhagen
-Hamburg, Germany's Amsterdam
-BERLIN, a very very cool city
-Frankfurt
-might elaborate on Florence or try to fill in stories here and there, but that should about cover everything!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
nude in the NETHERLANDS
Awesome! Get to use my sis’s laptop and thereby, type on a keyboard. Hallelujah.
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Addendum to Bruges post: I didn’t elaborate much when discussing the bike riding in Bruges. If any of you have been in Amsterdam, it was like that minus the trams and EVERYONE being high.
1) what you have as your death vehicle are these big Dutch bikes, with high seats and handlebars, and if they were armored they’d be one-person tanks.
2) you are riding around cobblestone streets which are choppy enough, but then you have these roads where big trucks are driving on all the time as well as other bikers, hordes of tourists, fancy cars (I managed to see someone driving an Aston Martin). So, you are clinging to that 6” between the road and the high curb of the sidewalk that is meant for drainage.
3) there are moats and other hazards to avoid as well
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Back to the story. After a great day in Bruges with the ladies from New Brunswick, I decided it was time to head to Noordwijk before it got too late and I definitely didn’t want to check-in much later than 10 PM. I didn’t mention but some of the Belgian locals were VERY nice and I managed to have some short conversations with them. The scariest thing that can happen to you minus those really bad things, I need not name, is passing out. Who the hell knows what could happen to you or your stuff if you passed out somewhere. Only happened to me once in Switzerland, but it was Switzerland so I didn’t have much to worry about. Almost happened in Italy in a village at about 11 PM, that could have been pretty bad. The trains took a little while, but I don’t remember having too much trouble with the trains out of there. Maybe I have developed some kind of travel selective memory though. Anyways, got into Leiden Central and hopped aboard Bus 40 or 44 which would take me to Noordwijk which was about 50 minutes away. At 4EU it was a pretty pricey ticket, but alas Northern Europe is very expensive. Just sat there not thinking about much, just gazing out the window and remembering to look for a lighthouse and get off at whatever stop that was closest too.
At about 9 PM, I finally got to the Lighthouse Square with the very obvious lighthouse and the beach just beyond it. There it was, the Flying Pig Beach Hostel. I had booked it because the Amsterdam downtown Flying Pig Beach Hostel (one of Europe’s “Famous Hostels) was full and I figured it would have great service as well being under the same brand. Plus, I wanted some time outside the cities especially after having just been in Paris. Anyways, got to the counter and met Leo who was working the bar/reception (who Nick – a guy I met in Madrid had told me lots about during our random group’s big night out in that awesome city). There were a bunch of people in the smoke room in the back beyond the counter, smoking (joints and cigs alike, remember this is the Netherlands), and playing some drinking games.
Back to Leo, here was this 6’4” tall beach bum with dreads, he was incredibly lanky and kind of looked like a dinosaur, who had the exact personality of Leo from That 70s Show, the big hippie/stoner who “runs” the record shop. After chilling and talking to Leo who asked me about my travels thus far, I figured it was time for a big beer and to drop my stuff off in the room (a 12-bed dorm in the basement).
After dropping off my stuff and picking up my beers, I went to go mingle in the smoke room. Quickly I was pulled into the drinking game by Ari, quick talking heavily tattooed Italian-American from New York who had been living in LA studying to be a lawyer representing celebs but was now bumming around at the hostel for a few months. He was introducing me to a bunch of people including this Brazilian girl who he told to give me a kiss. Alas, that did not happen but drunk Ari decided to give me a kiss on the cheek since she didn’t. The game looked like Ring of Fire with a bunch of cards stacked on a mug of beer in the middle on which we had to stack the card that we drew from the ring around the base. It definitely was some variation of the game as I heard things like Question Master, but there were a bunch of different rules and also pretty much everyone was without some article of clothing. Anyways, within 5 minutes of playing my shirt and shorts were gone, taken by the girl from Canada who was the ‘Confiscator.’ Also gone was the dress of the blonde Australian girl sitting next to me, who was attractive but way too slutty for my tastes plus Ari was groping her which was off-putting too. 15 minutes later they were making out. After a few more rounds in the game it was my turn again and I pulled my card and did whatever you were supposed to do when you pulled and managed to put it on the pile above the mug with two edges off and not sticking it under any other cards. Someone, I swear, hit the table a few seconds later and the pile fell off the mug, thus I had to chug the thing. Kept going around meeting people, drinking, passing blunts and so forth. So, a number of drinks and joints into the night I was high and drunk. Met a bunch more characters that night, and Tom would fill me in on everyone’s backstory tomorrow. Went out to the porch for a bit to chat with the Brazilian girl about going to Carnaval. Got some more tips and it was again reinforced that I should go to Salvador Bahia for the REAL Carnaval. It started to sprinkle to see we all headed indoors. I had reserved the shuttle for 9 AM in the morning into town so I figured I should drink some water and call it a night. Went to the communal computer to check some mail as I was getting some water in me.
After I finished the glass and logged off, I was thinking fuck it, I really should check out the beach. Ran downstairs to grab my flipflops, and saw Ari coming out of the staff room which was linked to the giant dorm looking for something, probably a condom. Had seen him take the Aussie girl down a little while before. There were a few more hookups that night as was obvious in the morning. There were a couple of other easy and attractive “pulls” as Ari put it that night, but perhaps having somewhat of a conscious, I don’t think any guys went after them. Went back up after grabbing my flipflops, returned the glass to the bar and out the window I saw a small group of people heading out, so I ran off to go to the beach with them. We got acquainted on the 2-minute walk to the beach, some siblings from Ireland, a couple of Noordwijk locals, a Finnish guy, and a few others in the mix. I think between all of us we had some beers, a bottle of wine, portable speaker+iPod, and some joints, don’t really remember too well. Anyways, we sat down for a few minutes and chilled watching the waves break with a light coming from our backs from this shack that looked like it would be a bar during the day. I think we were talking about touching the Baltic Sea just to say we did? We started to hear thunder and saw lightning in the distance. It was quite an amazing scene. Anyways, before I knew what was going one of the girls had taken off her dress and bra, telling the Finnish guy to watch her stuff and was running out to the ocean. I thought she still had her panties on, but upon second look it was confirmed that would be that those would have to be some miraculous panties that could stay on without anything gripping onto the hips. It started to sprinkle again at this point and some people started to head for cover. The Irish girl kept her underwear on but headed out as well. I don’t really have any qualms with getting naked, I think having done Baker 13, gone to a number of onsens in Japan, is probably testament to that. So I went. Running into the ocean was pretty liberating, but I have got to say the way the sky looked, the way the headlight hit the beach, it was really beautiful. It started to rain pretty heavily at this point and thunder a bit more so after being out at sea I decided it was time to head back, grab my clothes, put them on and run like hell to the hostel. It was getting pretty cold out in the rain. Couldn’t find the others but headed back with the guy from Noordwijk. Probably had some conversation about life in Noordwijk or just life, but some time later made it back all soaked and with sand in my shorts.
Despite all these guys sleeping in the room, including two Indian guys (so out of place) who were in town for an academic conference at the fancy hotel in the plaza but couldn’t afford accommodations there, I am sure I made plenty of noise getting cleaned up and into bed only to get up a few hours later to go into town. Also, I laughed when I realized the bottom bunk bed that was set up that was set up like a fortress, having blankets draped all around the sides belonged to the Fremont, Cali high school grad with the hot girlfriend who was half Natalie Portman and half Katie Holmes. Dunno how that ever happened, apparently they had met while traveling.
Took a quick shower and hung my clothes on the edges of my bed to dry. Regardless, would find sand in my bed the next morning.
First night in Noordwijk.
---
Addendum to Bruges post: I didn’t elaborate much when discussing the bike riding in Bruges. If any of you have been in Amsterdam, it was like that minus the trams and EVERYONE being high.
1) what you have as your death vehicle are these big Dutch bikes, with high seats and handlebars, and if they were armored they’d be one-person tanks.
2) you are riding around cobblestone streets which are choppy enough, but then you have these roads where big trucks are driving on all the time as well as other bikers, hordes of tourists, fancy cars (I managed to see someone driving an Aston Martin). So, you are clinging to that 6” between the road and the high curb of the sidewalk that is meant for drainage.
3) there are moats and other hazards to avoid as well
---
Back to the story. After a great day in Bruges with the ladies from New Brunswick, I decided it was time to head to Noordwijk before it got too late and I definitely didn’t want to check-in much later than 10 PM. I didn’t mention but some of the Belgian locals were VERY nice and I managed to have some short conversations with them. The scariest thing that can happen to you minus those really bad things, I need not name, is passing out. Who the hell knows what could happen to you or your stuff if you passed out somewhere. Only happened to me once in Switzerland, but it was Switzerland so I didn’t have much to worry about. Almost happened in Italy in a village at about 11 PM, that could have been pretty bad. The trains took a little while, but I don’t remember having too much trouble with the trains out of there. Maybe I have developed some kind of travel selective memory though. Anyways, got into Leiden Central and hopped aboard Bus 40 or 44 which would take me to Noordwijk which was about 50 minutes away. At 4EU it was a pretty pricey ticket, but alas Northern Europe is very expensive. Just sat there not thinking about much, just gazing out the window and remembering to look for a lighthouse and get off at whatever stop that was closest too.
At about 9 PM, I finally got to the Lighthouse Square with the very obvious lighthouse and the beach just beyond it. There it was, the Flying Pig Beach Hostel. I had booked it because the Amsterdam downtown Flying Pig Beach Hostel (one of Europe’s “Famous Hostels) was full and I figured it would have great service as well being under the same brand. Plus, I wanted some time outside the cities especially after having just been in Paris. Anyways, got to the counter and met Leo who was working the bar/reception (who Nick – a guy I met in Madrid had told me lots about during our random group’s big night out in that awesome city). There were a bunch of people in the smoke room in the back beyond the counter, smoking (joints and cigs alike, remember this is the Netherlands), and playing some drinking games.
Back to Leo, here was this 6’4” tall beach bum with dreads, he was incredibly lanky and kind of looked like a dinosaur, who had the exact personality of Leo from That 70s Show, the big hippie/stoner who “runs” the record shop. After chilling and talking to Leo who asked me about my travels thus far, I figured it was time for a big beer and to drop my stuff off in the room (a 12-bed dorm in the basement).
After dropping off my stuff and picking up my beers, I went to go mingle in the smoke room. Quickly I was pulled into the drinking game by Ari, quick talking heavily tattooed Italian-American from New York who had been living in LA studying to be a lawyer representing celebs but was now bumming around at the hostel for a few months. He was introducing me to a bunch of people including this Brazilian girl who he told to give me a kiss. Alas, that did not happen but drunk Ari decided to give me a kiss on the cheek since she didn’t. The game looked like Ring of Fire with a bunch of cards stacked on a mug of beer in the middle on which we had to stack the card that we drew from the ring around the base. It definitely was some variation of the game as I heard things like Question Master, but there were a bunch of different rules and also pretty much everyone was without some article of clothing. Anyways, within 5 minutes of playing my shirt and shorts were gone, taken by the girl from Canada who was the ‘Confiscator.’ Also gone was the dress of the blonde Australian girl sitting next to me, who was attractive but way too slutty for my tastes plus Ari was groping her which was off-putting too. 15 minutes later they were making out. After a few more rounds in the game it was my turn again and I pulled my card and did whatever you were supposed to do when you pulled and managed to put it on the pile above the mug with two edges off and not sticking it under any other cards. Someone, I swear, hit the table a few seconds later and the pile fell off the mug, thus I had to chug the thing. Kept going around meeting people, drinking, passing blunts and so forth. So, a number of drinks and joints into the night I was high and drunk. Met a bunch more characters that night, and Tom would fill me in on everyone’s backstory tomorrow. Went out to the porch for a bit to chat with the Brazilian girl about going to Carnaval. Got some more tips and it was again reinforced that I should go to Salvador Bahia for the REAL Carnaval. It started to sprinkle to see we all headed indoors. I had reserved the shuttle for 9 AM in the morning into town so I figured I should drink some water and call it a night. Went to the communal computer to check some mail as I was getting some water in me.
After I finished the glass and logged off, I was thinking fuck it, I really should check out the beach. Ran downstairs to grab my flipflops, and saw Ari coming out of the staff room which was linked to the giant dorm looking for something, probably a condom. Had seen him take the Aussie girl down a little while before. There were a few more hookups that night as was obvious in the morning. There were a couple of other easy and attractive “pulls” as Ari put it that night, but perhaps having somewhat of a conscious, I don’t think any guys went after them. Went back up after grabbing my flipflops, returned the glass to the bar and out the window I saw a small group of people heading out, so I ran off to go to the beach with them. We got acquainted on the 2-minute walk to the beach, some siblings from Ireland, a couple of Noordwijk locals, a Finnish guy, and a few others in the mix. I think between all of us we had some beers, a bottle of wine, portable speaker+iPod, and some joints, don’t really remember too well. Anyways, we sat down for a few minutes and chilled watching the waves break with a light coming from our backs from this shack that looked like it would be a bar during the day. I think we were talking about touching the Baltic Sea just to say we did? We started to hear thunder and saw lightning in the distance. It was quite an amazing scene. Anyways, before I knew what was going one of the girls had taken off her dress and bra, telling the Finnish guy to watch her stuff and was running out to the ocean. I thought she still had her panties on, but upon second look it was confirmed that would be that those would have to be some miraculous panties that could stay on without anything gripping onto the hips. It started to sprinkle again at this point and some people started to head for cover. The Irish girl kept her underwear on but headed out as well. I don’t really have any qualms with getting naked, I think having done Baker 13, gone to a number of onsens in Japan, is probably testament to that. So I went. Running into the ocean was pretty liberating, but I have got to say the way the sky looked, the way the headlight hit the beach, it was really beautiful. It started to rain pretty heavily at this point and thunder a bit more so after being out at sea I decided it was time to head back, grab my clothes, put them on and run like hell to the hostel. It was getting pretty cold out in the rain. Couldn’t find the others but headed back with the guy from Noordwijk. Probably had some conversation about life in Noordwijk or just life, but some time later made it back all soaked and with sand in my shorts.
Despite all these guys sleeping in the room, including two Indian guys (so out of place) who were in town for an academic conference at the fancy hotel in the plaza but couldn’t afford accommodations there, I am sure I made plenty of noise getting cleaned up and into bed only to get up a few hours later to go into town. Also, I laughed when I realized the bottom bunk bed that was set up that was set up like a fortress, having blankets draped all around the sides belonged to the Fremont, Cali high school grad with the hot girlfriend who was half Natalie Portman and half Katie Holmes. Dunno how that ever happened, apparently they had met while traveling.
Took a quick shower and hung my clothes on the edges of my bed to dry. Regardless, would find sand in my bed the next morning.
First night in Noordwijk.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Sex, drugs, and alcohol
Noordwijk, Netherlands - Flying Pig Beach Hostel. Truly one of craziest little places on this planet. Stay posted.
I know my past few posts have been shit, so I will try to redeem myself on this one.
I know my past few posts have been shit, so I will try to redeem myself on this one.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Random
I hate bread.
Boccadillos, babirusas, toast, whatever. So annoying to eat it all the time in provided breakfasts, as a way to stave off hunger, etc. Can't wait to get back to the states and go back to a protein heavy diet plus fresh veggies and fruits. Nom.
Surprisingly haven't gained much weight on this trip, just a little. I think it is due to the fact I walk on average 6 miles every day, no exaggeration. Maybe the minimal sleep thing too.
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Smart traveler
More and more I have inherited the role of travel consultant. Helping other tourists find places to go, recommending places to eat, how to save money, some historical background on buildings, and so on. Also navigating groups when we are all drunk as hell and it's 4 am.
The time for me to become familiar with a city has gone down from 2 days to an afternoon. Usually the first day I get I will walk all the way across town to get familiar, be it Prague, Paris, or Barcelona as well as do an extensive walking tour. I like getting familiar with then area around the hostels for the markets, goings-on in the streets and so on. See what events are going on.
Boccadillos, babirusas, toast, whatever. So annoying to eat it all the time in provided breakfasts, as a way to stave off hunger, etc. Can't wait to get back to the states and go back to a protein heavy diet plus fresh veggies and fruits. Nom.
Surprisingly haven't gained much weight on this trip, just a little. I think it is due to the fact I walk on average 6 miles every day, no exaggeration. Maybe the minimal sleep thing too.
---
Smart traveler
More and more I have inherited the role of travel consultant. Helping other tourists find places to go, recommending places to eat, how to save money, some historical background on buildings, and so on. Also navigating groups when we are all drunk as hell and it's 4 am.
The time for me to become familiar with a city has gone down from 2 days to an afternoon. Usually the first day I get I will walk all the way across town to get familiar, be it Prague, Paris, or Barcelona as well as do an extensive walking tour. I like getting familiar with then area around the hostels for the markets, goings-on in the streets and so on. See what events are going on.
An observation
Unamerican?
I realize I really like British, Canadian, German, and Aussie travelers way more than most of the Americans I have met. Especially, Canadians, seriously they are the coolest by far and I have met so many more of them than Americans or anyone else.
Also, I am coming to appreciate the normal parts of culture rather than all the sites and other touristic things. Like in Paris, I went to the store bought some beers and went out to the park to go mingle. What I found was a community gathering with a funky local jazz band playing some pretty innovative music I hadn't really heard anything similar to before, old French ladies breaking it down doing some variation of the robot, sat down with some locals and shared some wine and hung around for another 30 minutes or so because I was really digging the music. Made my way out to go to the subway station to head a bit out of town for the big jazz festival, but before I even got into the subway stop a street performer caught my attention.
Then again that might just be me, where I don't like getting too comfortable anywhere doing the same old, never having to figure things out like you do you when you are in a different culture. When there is struggle to communicate it can feel like quite an achievement, and I am always a fan of cultural exchange. There is some adventure and excitement to be had when you are lost. Plus it is almost always hilarious when you bust out something in bad German, French, etc.
I was listening to a Rick Steves bit - interview of David Sedaris about living in Paris - and I was really feeling the same way he did. He started living outside of the States after 40 years there to work on some of his latest work and he talked about putting a new "observer" lens when you are out of your home culture you have been and just see much more of what is going around you.
I realize I really like British, Canadian, German, and Aussie travelers way more than most of the Americans I have met. Especially, Canadians, seriously they are the coolest by far and I have met so many more of them than Americans or anyone else.
Also, I am coming to appreciate the normal parts of culture rather than all the sites and other touristic things. Like in Paris, I went to the store bought some beers and went out to the park to go mingle. What I found was a community gathering with a funky local jazz band playing some pretty innovative music I hadn't really heard anything similar to before, old French ladies breaking it down doing some variation of the robot, sat down with some locals and shared some wine and hung around for another 30 minutes or so because I was really digging the music. Made my way out to go to the subway station to head a bit out of town for the big jazz festival, but before I even got into the subway stop a street performer caught my attention.
Then again that might just be me, where I don't like getting too comfortable anywhere doing the same old, never having to figure things out like you do you when you are in a different culture. When there is struggle to communicate it can feel like quite an achievement, and I am always a fan of cultural exchange. There is some adventure and excitement to be had when you are lost. Plus it is almost always hilarious when you bust out something in bad German, French, etc.
I was listening to a Rick Steves bit - interview of David Sedaris about living in Paris - and I was really feeling the same way he did. He started living outside of the States after 40 years there to work on some of his latest work and he talked about putting a new "observer" lens when you are out of your home culture you have been and just see much more of what is going around you.
In Bruges
Bruges
A great 24 hours here. Trains (Paris-Bruges with 2 connections) were a colossalfuck again but forget that I got there 7 hours later than anticipated (full trains - more like the French railways only allow a limited number of EuRail + a train ahead of us breaking down). Also it has been very hot in the past few days, so everyone was a sweaty messy. Also, when we got into the station there were all these emergency workers with a hydration station, some stretchers and people running about, couldn't really figure what all the hullabaloo was all about.
When I got into Bruges jumped on the bus and took it to Marketsquare, did some roaming but got into Snuffek hostel without much ado and decided to just go find some food and grab some Belgian, preferably Trappist beer.
Walking around I found a restaurant after a while. This 50s style burger place. I don't know what the sauce was or what exactly the patties were but it was delicious. One of the best burgers I have ever had. Went around to find a liquor/grocery store to find some beer, so I picked up some Westmalle 9%, it was a solid find. Drank some before taking a much needed shower and when I came back down I sat down with the cute Canadian girls who were talking with the Australian guy. Already felt a bit tipsy because of lack of sleep and not much to eat that day. They were a very friendly group and in no time we were talking about just about everything and sharing plenty of laughs. Learned even more about Canadian culture, since they were from New Brunswick and on the trip I had learned plenty from people from Ontario, Toronto, Vancouver and of course, Montreal.
Three of the girls and the Aussie guy had the 5 drink combo for 10 euro: Duvel, westmaue doppel, ... So, everyone was drunk. Keep in mind Belgian beers are strong 6-10% usually. Some even stronger, 12% ones. The four girl kept having cherry and raspberry beers that were actually really good. I will go on unnaming them because I may or may not have fallen in love with the beautiful blonde and may one day convince her to move to Cali ;-)
I just got the happy hour beer (Maes) a few times which was really sweet and tasted like honey and Palms. The girls didn't like some of the stronger liquid bread so I drank for them, of course being the gentleman I am. We were having lots of fun and good convo so before we knew it, it was really late. We were all in the large dorm Rm 21 together, We got back into the room at 3am... causing as little noise as we could... yeah right. I had gotten in pretty late... So my bed had a folded sheetset, so I just unfolded them once and lay on top. Simply trying to cover the mattress in some fashion. No way was I going to make my bed drunk and tired as I was.
Abandoning my original plan to get into Amsterdam early and have a silly day in and out of coffeeshops and the Red Light District before I went to Noordwijk and the beach hostel, I decided to tag along with them biking around town the next day and whatever else until the late afternoon when I would head out. They were really great company, so it was definitely the right decision.
Anyways, the next day we all woke up early with hangovers except the girl who had the 4 fruit beers. I had to check out but we had all also reserved bikes for the day which we had to pick up by 10 am. Together we discovered that the cure to a Belgian beer hangover is biking around town, Belgian fries, and Belgian chocolate. Really worked wonders. We went to both the fry museum and chocolate museum, so we learned all about what went into both. Bruges definitely had its charm.
Fairly warm afternoon when I left... Onto Noordwijk about 30 km outside Amsterdam on the beach.
A great 24 hours here. Trains (Paris-Bruges with 2 connections) were a colossalfuck again but forget that I got there 7 hours later than anticipated (full trains - more like the French railways only allow a limited number of EuRail + a train ahead of us breaking down). Also it has been very hot in the past few days, so everyone was a sweaty messy. Also, when we got into the station there were all these emergency workers with a hydration station, some stretchers and people running about, couldn't really figure what all the hullabaloo was all about.
When I got into Bruges jumped on the bus and took it to Marketsquare, did some roaming but got into Snuffek hostel without much ado and decided to just go find some food and grab some Belgian, preferably Trappist beer.
Walking around I found a restaurant after a while. This 50s style burger place. I don't know what the sauce was or what exactly the patties were but it was delicious. One of the best burgers I have ever had. Went around to find a liquor/grocery store to find some beer, so I picked up some Westmalle 9%, it was a solid find. Drank some before taking a much needed shower and when I came back down I sat down with the cute Canadian girls who were talking with the Australian guy. Already felt a bit tipsy because of lack of sleep and not much to eat that day. They were a very friendly group and in no time we were talking about just about everything and sharing plenty of laughs. Learned even more about Canadian culture, since they were from New Brunswick and on the trip I had learned plenty from people from Ontario, Toronto, Vancouver and of course, Montreal.
Three of the girls and the Aussie guy had the 5 drink combo for 10 euro: Duvel, westmaue doppel, ... So, everyone was drunk. Keep in mind Belgian beers are strong 6-10% usually. Some even stronger, 12% ones. The four girl kept having cherry and raspberry beers that were actually really good. I will go on unnaming them because I may or may not have fallen in love with the beautiful blonde and may one day convince her to move to Cali ;-)
I just got the happy hour beer (Maes) a few times which was really sweet and tasted like honey and Palms. The girls didn't like some of the stronger liquid bread so I drank for them, of course being the gentleman I am. We were having lots of fun and good convo so before we knew it, it was really late. We were all in the large dorm Rm 21 together, We got back into the room at 3am... causing as little noise as we could... yeah right. I had gotten in pretty late... So my bed had a folded sheetset, so I just unfolded them once and lay on top. Simply trying to cover the mattress in some fashion. No way was I going to make my bed drunk and tired as I was.
Abandoning my original plan to get into Amsterdam early and have a silly day in and out of coffeeshops and the Red Light District before I went to Noordwijk and the beach hostel, I decided to tag along with them biking around town the next day and whatever else until the late afternoon when I would head out. They were really great company, so it was definitely the right decision.
Anyways, the next day we all woke up early with hangovers except the girl who had the 4 fruit beers. I had to check out but we had all also reserved bikes for the day which we had to pick up by 10 am. Together we discovered that the cure to a Belgian beer hangover is biking around town, Belgian fries, and Belgian chocolate. Really worked wonders. We went to both the fry museum and chocolate museum, so we learned all about what went into both. Bruges definitely had its charm.
Fairly warm afternoon when I left... Onto Noordwijk about 30 km outside Amsterdam on the beach.
I love Switzerland
Stayed in Bern the first night. Got in way late because of all the delays getting out Italy. Christ, I was so happy to get out of that country after Florence. Tourist traps, lines, delays abound. Fire on the tracks, thus I had to switch trains about 3 times. Lost my light blue Express jacket and some peaches in the process. I bet whoever found that was extremely confused. It was during one of these switches I could have been very screwed, literally having nothing but the clothes on my back.
In love with this country. Really, I could live here for a very long time. The one thing is though... I feel like I have no money aka poor. The Swiss franc = 1.25 USD or so, but whatevet that is the exchange rate. more significantly everything is 2-3 times the price in the States. Can you say $20 for a big Mac meal at McD's? No joke. Even all the other Europeans I have met say the same.
Anyways, got in late into Bern. Immaculate tram system. Brand new, clean, etc. It is damn near futuristic. So happy I didn't have to worry about wandering around at night, getting pick pocketed, and so on. Also, bunch of party animals toting alcohol and getting wasted on the trams.
Delia was extremely welcoming when I found their pad. She is truly remarkable knowing about 5 languages, just finished a 1.5 year trip around the world, among other things. Oh yeah, also great cook. Heated up some of this corn bread-pizza stuff which I have long forgotten the name of... Really felt like we were old friends catching up. She is officially the most expert South American traveler I have met, so I will be talking to her about my future travels (hopefully next February) in Peru and Brazil.
We all got up around 11 because of the drinking (of a popular Nicaraguan drink which was basically OJ and rum, which I would never think to do in a million years), smoking (I have smoked a few times on this trip whenever everyone else is which is all the time and I feel like it which is only some of the time) , and convos late into the night. Had an awesome Swiss breakfast with fancy breads and sausages. Walked into town for a brief tour. Gorgeous view from Rosenplatz on top of a hill. Had beers with Delia and her brother. Great weather and seemed like everyone was out enjoying it. Walked down afterwards to the Biergarten... Too cool. A public park where they had Viennese bears frolicking around by the river. Also, when it is warmer people swim in it. I was tempted too, but it was a little too chilly. A very picturesque scene. Hung around a lot longer than expected. Headed out after returning back to their apartment to grab my stuff.
Got into Interlaken without problems. Thank god.
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Interlaken = Amazing.
I am sure to return when I have A LOT more money. Canyon jumping, hang gliding, or just hiking and so on.
If you imagined a small touristy city amidst the Alps, this would be it.
Stayed at Balmer's Herbege which is on the list of "Famous Hostels." bumping place with a lot of activity and people to meet. The club gets out of control a lot, so they have some bouncers. Anyways, stefanie mentioned she met the sisters who run the place at a hostel conference.
Talked quite a while with the older American guy in my cabin who had a ton of travel stories. Some of them are pretty good. I was not pleased to know that the guy who had left was uber-drunk last night and couldnt find the bathroom or get out of the room and promptly pissed all over the front door and unfortunately for the guy whose bed was nearest the front door, his backpack as well. Maybe you can hear me retell some of the other storie sometime!
Also interestingly enough there were a million Indian FOBs when I was there, which was out of the blue.
Met some Googlers late that evening, one of whom knew Neil Parikh. Small word. Anyways, we became friends really fast. They shared the same entrepreneurship goals and real passion for life. Guys who wake up every day and think to themselves, "Let's do this shit." will meet up with them in Barcelona and of course in San Francisco.
Told the Johns Hopkins Indian bros about canyoning Chli Schliere the next morning with the AlpinRaft company I heard about while messaging some CouchSurf hosts. One of the girls' dad had worked with that company for a while so it seemed legit enough.
On the note of bros, I swear almost every American guy around the age of 20 I have met in my travels here is the same bro personality. "doing the pub crawl tonight?" "yeah, man go see this, it was awesome." I like that they are having a good time, but their personalities... not so interesting and not very open-minded. I have much preferred meeting a lot of the solo travelers (even more preferably from other countries) on this trip who are always up for trying new things and not being a prototypical tourist.
Anyways, I digress.
---
Canyoning Chli Schliere
Unfucking believably awesome time. see link on FB and watch the video! Every leap of faith and hitting the cold watwas felt like taking a shot of adrenaline. Our guides were a couple of chill Kiwis. Seriously, i have yet to met an uncool Kiwi or Aussie in my life. Cool people on my group. I hung out with the guy who went to Brown and found out he had laundry coins for his hostel which he wouldnt need so i promptly jumoed on the chance to clean all my clothes there.
In love with this country. Really, I could live here for a very long time. The one thing is though... I feel like I have no money aka poor. The Swiss franc = 1.25 USD or so, but whatevet that is the exchange rate. more significantly everything is 2-3 times the price in the States. Can you say $20 for a big Mac meal at McD's? No joke. Even all the other Europeans I have met say the same.
Anyways, got in late into Bern. Immaculate tram system. Brand new, clean, etc. It is damn near futuristic. So happy I didn't have to worry about wandering around at night, getting pick pocketed, and so on. Also, bunch of party animals toting alcohol and getting wasted on the trams.
Delia was extremely welcoming when I found their pad. She is truly remarkable knowing about 5 languages, just finished a 1.5 year trip around the world, among other things. Oh yeah, also great cook. Heated up some of this corn bread-pizza stuff which I have long forgotten the name of... Really felt like we were old friends catching up. She is officially the most expert South American traveler I have met, so I will be talking to her about my future travels (hopefully next February) in Peru and Brazil.
We all got up around 11 because of the drinking (of a popular Nicaraguan drink which was basically OJ and rum, which I would never think to do in a million years), smoking (I have smoked a few times on this trip whenever everyone else is which is all the time and I feel like it which is only some of the time) , and convos late into the night. Had an awesome Swiss breakfast with fancy breads and sausages. Walked into town for a brief tour. Gorgeous view from Rosenplatz on top of a hill. Had beers with Delia and her brother. Great weather and seemed like everyone was out enjoying it. Walked down afterwards to the Biergarten... Too cool. A public park where they had Viennese bears frolicking around by the river. Also, when it is warmer people swim in it. I was tempted too, but it was a little too chilly. A very picturesque scene. Hung around a lot longer than expected. Headed out after returning back to their apartment to grab my stuff.
Got into Interlaken without problems. Thank god.
---
Interlaken = Amazing.
I am sure to return when I have A LOT more money. Canyon jumping, hang gliding, or just hiking and so on.
If you imagined a small touristy city amidst the Alps, this would be it.
Stayed at Balmer's Herbege which is on the list of "Famous Hostels." bumping place with a lot of activity and people to meet. The club gets out of control a lot, so they have some bouncers. Anyways, stefanie mentioned she met the sisters who run the place at a hostel conference.
Talked quite a while with the older American guy in my cabin who had a ton of travel stories. Some of them are pretty good. I was not pleased to know that the guy who had left was uber-drunk last night and couldnt find the bathroom or get out of the room and promptly pissed all over the front door and unfortunately for the guy whose bed was nearest the front door, his backpack as well. Maybe you can hear me retell some of the other storie sometime!
Also interestingly enough there were a million Indian FOBs when I was there, which was out of the blue.
Met some Googlers late that evening, one of whom knew Neil Parikh. Small word. Anyways, we became friends really fast. They shared the same entrepreneurship goals and real passion for life. Guys who wake up every day and think to themselves, "Let's do this shit." will meet up with them in Barcelona and of course in San Francisco.
Told the Johns Hopkins Indian bros about canyoning Chli Schliere the next morning with the AlpinRaft company I heard about while messaging some CouchSurf hosts. One of the girls' dad had worked with that company for a while so it seemed legit enough.
On the note of bros, I swear almost every American guy around the age of 20 I have met in my travels here is the same bro personality. "doing the pub crawl tonight?" "yeah, man go see this, it was awesome." I like that they are having a good time, but their personalities... not so interesting and not very open-minded. I have much preferred meeting a lot of the solo travelers (even more preferably from other countries) on this trip who are always up for trying new things and not being a prototypical tourist.
Anyways, I digress.
---
Canyoning Chli Schliere
Unfucking believably awesome time. see link on FB and watch the video! Every leap of faith and hitting the cold watwas felt like taking a shot of adrenaline. Our guides were a couple of chill Kiwis. Seriously, i have yet to met an uncool Kiwi or Aussie in my life. Cool people on my group. I hung out with the guy who went to Brown and found out he had laundry coins for his hostel which he wouldnt need so i promptly jumoed on the chance to clean all my clothes there.
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